


It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

by bestpillowtalkever



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Anxiety, COVID-19, Eventual Smut, F/M, Omg they were quarantined, One Night Stand, Only One Bed, betty is type A, caronavirus, jughead is a bachelor bum, lets process together, quarantine fic, strange times guys, strangers to lovers to strangers to friends to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:47:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23147983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bestpillowtalkever/pseuds/bestpillowtalkever
Summary: “You don’t remember?” she asked with her eyebrows shooting up.“I am so sorry,” he told her, honestly feeling like the world’s biggest asshole. “I don’t even remember… were you our waitress?”“No,” she said, not sounding impressed. “I’m Veronica’s friend. Betty.”“Oh, Betty!” he said as the memory started returning. “You’re working on your thesis on investigative journalism and the moral lines that separate reporting and violation of personal privacy.”She sat up, holding his flannel sheet to her chest as a smile crossed her face. “You don’t remember my name, but you remember that?”Or: OMG they were quarantined!!
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 154
Kudos: 575
Collections: 7th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees, Riverdale Bingo Winter 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iconicbeanie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iconicbeanie/gifts).



> PLEASE don’t think I am taking this topic lightly or making a joke of it. These are trying times and we’re all trying to figure out how to cope and process. I think reading and writing about it can be helpful and therapeutic for some, but it can be triggering for others. If you think this will upset you, please do not proceed!! No one in the story gets sick. They are dealing with the predicament of being quarantined as well as virus-related anxieties.
> 
> TRINNIE thank you for helping me to develop this story 🖤🖤 Also, shout out to Nick for some futon related humor.

The first thing he noticed upon waking up was the funky taste in his mouth.  _ What happened last night? _

He remembered it was Archie’s birthday. He’d begrudgingly accompanied him to a  _ sports  _ bar. They did shots. The wings were  _ amazing.  _ The buffalo were decent, but those teriyaki ones were just…

_ Wait, what the hell? _ He suddenly realized he was very much not alone. There was a warm body curled up next to him, clinging to him like a barnacle. He popped up in confusion and panic. 

The action woke up his companion, who was a beautiful blonde he vaguely remembered from the previous night. She groggily blinked her makeup- smudged eyes open. 

“Hi,” she croaked shyly. 

“Hey,” he responded. Hoping he didn’t sound as panicky as he felt. 

He didn’t do this sort of thing. He didn’t do this sort of thing  _ at all.  _ In fact, he had definitely  _ never  _ done this before. 

This was an Archie move. This was  _ not  _ a Jughead move. What the hell do you even do in this situation?

She looked about as shocked and unsure as he did.

“So, uh… I’m not really sure how this works,” he admitted.

“And you think I do?” she asked, sounding offended.

“What? No! That’s not… that’s not what I meant,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “I just… I’m… what… what’s your name again?” 

“You don’t remember?” she asked with her eyebrows shooting up.

“I am so sorry,” he told her, honestly feeling like the world’s biggest asshole. “I don’t even remember… were you our waitress?”

“No,” she said, not sounding impressed. “I’m Veronica’s friend. Betty.”

“Oh,  _ Betty! _ ” he said as the memory started returning. “You’re working on your thesis on investigative journalism and the moral lines that separate reporting and violation of personal privacy.”

She sat up, holding his flannel sheet to her chest as a smile crossed her face. “You don’t remember my name, but you remember  _ that _ ?”

“I thought that was really cool. Wait,  _ you  _ had sex with me?” he asked her in shock. 

He remembered her. He  _ remembered.  _ He remembered her witty banter and her flowery dress and her beautiful smile. He remembered thinking this girl was so out of his league he didn’t have a  _ chance.  _ Which was odd in itself, since he rarely took notice of girls in  _ that  _ way. He unfortunately remembered very little of how they ended up in bed without clothes on. 

She bit her lip. “I suppose I did.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve had sex like five times in my life and that was back in college. I don’t remember last night, and I apologize for…”

He trailed off as she was taken by a fit of laughter. “I’m sorry,” she said as she pulled herself together. “I’m sorry, it’s just that you told me that so many times last night. You were  _ very  _ concerned about your performance. But… but, you didn’t need to be,” she finished with a blush. 

“Well,  _ thanks, _ ” he said, self-consciously rubbing the back of his neck. He didn’t know if he believed her. She seemed like the nice kind of girl that would tell him that even if it had been terrible. “I would offer to make you breakfast, but I’m pretty sure the only food I have is a bag of Doritos. I usually just eat out.”

“ _ Oh,  _ that’s okay,” she said with an unreadable expression. “I… that’s okay. I suppose you want me to get out of your hair.” Her eyes darted around the room, presumably searching for her clothes. 

“ _ No _ , I just….”  _ Fuck.  _ How was he supposed to figure out what to do in this situation? Did she want to leave? Did she want to stay? He’d  _ definitely  _ love to spend more time with her. Maybe take her out to eat? Ask her to wax poetic again about racism is journalism? Have sober sex that he could remember? 

He was flooded with feelings he was certain he’d never felt before. If only he wasn’t such an oblivious  _ idiot _ , he would know what the hell to do. As much as he wanted to invite her to stay, he didn’t want to make her feel awkward if she was trying to escape. 

There was a knock on the door, momentarily distracting him from his predicament. He had pretty much no idea who it could be. Archie, maybe?

He located his boxers and pulled them on as he got out of bed. “I’ll be right back,” he told her as she got up to look for her own clothes. 

He cracked open the door to find a police officer wearing a medical face mask and latex gloves. “Sorry to disturb you, sir, but your building’s been quarantined.”

“I’m sorry, my building’s been  _ what now? _ ” he asked. Was the whole morning a dream? It was the only logical explanation for the series of strange events he was experiencing.

“Quarantined,” she repeated. “Your mail carrier tested positive for COVID-19 and there are cases popping up all along her route. You can’t leave for two weeks. Whatever you need, have it shipped here. If you are in need of any assistance, please contact the station,” she said, handing him a piece of paper with more information.

“Are you  _ kidding _ me right now?” he asked in shock. 

“Unfortunately not, sir. There’s a list of symptoms on that sheet. If you start showing any signs of the virus, please call that number,” she said, pointing it out on the paper. “Sorry for the inconvenience.”

She went on her way and he shut the door behind her. He slowly turned to find Betty peeking out of his bedroom with a shocked look on her face. 

“So… you in the mood for Doritos?” he asked with an awkward smile. 

Well,  _ this _ was going to be interesting.

  
  


++

  
  


He’d been embarrassed before,  _ obviously.  _ It was embarrassing when he wet his pants in first grade. He was embarrassed every time he was picked last in gym class. He’d spent years being unable to invite friends over because he’d been so embarrassed of their trailer. 

_ This  _ was a whole new level of humiliation. 

He’d walked out of the shower to find Betty, the magical dream girl he’d somehow drunkenly wooed into his bed, raiding his kitchen in search of food. 

There wasn’t any. 

It wasn’t because he didn’t have the money. He actually had more than enough. He’d graduated college debt free due to scholarships and landed a great job in publishing soon after. 

He just had no fucking clue how to cook. After growing up on ramen and hot dogs, he delighted in the luxury of getting delivery or takeout. He’d never felt the urge to figure out how to make things himself.

Now he just felt like an idiot, sitting there scratching his head as she dug through his cabinets in shock. 

“Where is your  _ flour _ ?” she asked, standing on the counter to look through his shelves. “And why do you have so many chocolate pudding cups?”

“I think I’m out of flour,” he said as if he’d ever bought flour before in his life. “And, uh, I guess I just like pudding?”

“Do you mind if I just put everything on the counter to see what I have to work with?” she asked. 

“Yeah, sure,” he told her. 

He realized he should probably help and started taking things down from the other end of the cabinets.

“Okay, we have three packages of pudding cups, one half empty box of stale Honeycombs, an opened mustard which I’m pretty sure is supposed to be refrigerated, one bag of Doritos, and two boxes of Fruit by the Foot,” she summarized, before giving him a look that made him feel judged. 

“I think there’s more stuff in the fridge?” he said, knowing it’s contents probably weren’t much more promising.

She strode over and threw open the door with a confidence that suggested she’d already looked inside. “One expired quart of milk, one half empty two liter of Mountain Dew Code Red, one package of string cheese, and three drinkable yogurts,” she announced. 

“I haven’t been to the grocery store this week?” he tried.

“Mhm,” she said, with the beginnings of a smile appearing. 

“Okay, I know this looks bad,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m not much of a cook.”  _ Actually, I’m not much of a Real Person and I’m kind of just winging this whole adult thing. _

“I had a feeling,” she said, nodding. “How much toilet paper do you have? Paper towels? Laundry detergent?” She brushed past him, not waiting for him to answer, locating the small closet at the end of the hallway.

“Well, so, I actually use that closet for…”

“Books?!” she exclaimed. “You keep your  _ books _ in here? Where are your bath towels?” 

“I just have the one and it’s hanging on the shower curtain rod,” he told her.

“Medicine?”

“I think I have some Aspirin in my end table.”

“I’m going to need some of that. Toiletries?”

“I just have a five-in-one in the shower. It’s shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shaving-“

“I know what it is. I’ve just never known anyone to actually use it.” Her serious expression slowly morphed into a smile and she started laughing. 

“I’m aware of how shameful this is,” he told her as he started laughing as well. “Trust me, I am ashamed.”

“Do you have any cleaning products? I’d like to go around and disinfect everything,” she said.

“I  _ do  _ think I have Clorox wipes under the kitchen sink,” he said with pride.

“Okay, that should hold us over for now. I’m pretty sure Wasserman’s does grocery delivery. I’m going to order everything we’ll need for the week, because I think it’s like an extra twenty five bucks. That way we’ll only have to pay it twice,” she told him, getting her phone from the table.

“Why don’t you just get two weeks worth of stuff so we pay it once?” he asked, following her back into the kitchen. 

“Because  _ real _ food doesn’t last that long, Jughead. We’ll need to order more fruit and vegetables and things like that,” she said as if this were obvious. 

“ _ Ah,  _ yes. Vegetables. Of course,” he said, nodding as she looked at her phone. 

“Okay, you can just order through the app. Do you have a pen and paper?” she asked, looking up at him.

“I do!” he said, retrieving them from his desk. 

“Okay, great. I’m going to plan our meals for the week, plus get you some staples like flour, sugar,  _ salt _ , et cetera. I’ll get toiletries for myself and a few you might want to try. Some extra toilet paper. What else will you need for the week?” she asked. 

“Uh… I think I’ll be good with that,” he told her. He couldn’t fathom a single item to add to her list. 

She got to work, making a chart on the paper with breakfast lunch and dinner for the next seven days. Okay, yeah, there was no way in a million years this girl would ever be interested in a guy like him. Not after seeing the state of his living conditions, anyway. 

“Betty, I’m so sorry about this,” he told her honestly. “I’m sure this is, like, the  _ last _ place you’d want to spend the next two weeks. If I’d have known-“

“ _ Jughead _ , it’s okay. How could you possibly have known this would happen? And, this certainly isn’t the  _ last  _ place I’d want to be. It will be fun!” 

He couldn’t read her well enough to gauge how honest she was being, but was hoping she at least partially meant it. 

  
  


++

  
  


“ _ No,  _ mom… I  _ told _ you, I crashed at a friend’s house last night… How was  _ I  _ supposed to know this would happen?... I’m sorry, but you’re acting like I’m patient zero here. You do realize this wasn’t intentional, right?”

He wasn’t  _ trying  _ to listen to her conversation, the walls were just ridiculously thin. After placing their order from the grocery store and wiping down every surface in his apartment, she’d excused herself to call her mom and let her know what was going on. 

The earliest timeslot they could get for their delivery was 4pm, so he decided to order some pizzas from his Dominos app to hold them over. 

He looked around his small apartment and tried to straighten up a bit. At least when he was embarrassed by his trailer, he could blame his parents for it. The sad state of affairs here was entirely his own doing. He’d only been living there for six months, since he’d moved out of the apartment he shared with Archie. It never occurred to him to put much effort into it, since he never had people over. 

Of course the first time it happens, he ends up with a beautiful girl trapped there for two weeks like it’s Beauty and the Beast or something.

She emerged from his bedroom looking a little flustered. “Would you mind if I use your shower?” she asked politely. 

“Of course. You don’t have to ask, you can use anything you want,” he told her.  _ Literally anything. Myself included. _

“Like, your  _ one _ towel?” she asked with sass. 

He huffed a laugh. “Yeah, sorry about that. I don’t usually have guests. Here, I’ll throw it in the dryer real quick while you’re showering,” he said as he grabbed the damp towel from the bathroom.

“A warm towel? Such great service,” she joked. 

“What can I say? You’re staying in a real Holiday Inn,” he responded. 

She laughed as his dumb joke, which was very kind of her. “Would you actually mind if I borrowed some clothes?” she asked. “My dress could use a wash.”

“Yeah, of course,” he said, retrieving a shirt and some drawstring flannel pants from his bedroom. They were both clean,  _ thank god. _

She thanked him and retreated into the bathroom. He threw his old towel into the dryer, wishing that everything about his life wasn’t so fucking embarrassing. It’s not like he was some college kid. He was twenty seven years old and he didn’t have a decent goddamn towel. 

A moment later, there was a buzz signaling the arrival of their pizza. He ran downstairs to retrieve it and luckily made it back in time to leave the towel on the bathroom sink before Betty finished showering.

He heard the bathroom door open as he was digging into the first pie. Turning with the slice half in his mouth, he was not prepared for the sight before him. She was using that heinous towel to dry her hair, dressed in his clothes.  _ Dressed in his clothes.  _ He had no idea it was going to be as hot as it was.  _ But, it was. _

_ God,  _ he wished he could remember what she looked like naked. Or  _ anything _ about the previous night.

“Pizza for breakfast?” she asked with a smile.

“It has bacon on it?” he said before taking a bite. 

She nodded, looking as though she was trying not to smile. “I’m going to text my roommate to ask her to bring me a bag of my clothes and stuff. And, also, my computer so I can get work done. You… have WiFi, right?” she asked skeptically. 

“Of course,” he said through a bite of pizza. 

“Well, you have no silverware so I didn’t know if I was being presumptuous,” she told him.

“I use plastic ones. Less dishes to do. It’s efficient!” he defended. 

She shook her head as she came over to get a slice of pizza. “Well, thank you for this. I’ll pay for our next food order,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re my guest,” he told her. 

“I feel like that insinuates that you’d voluntarily invited me to stay,” she said, cocking an eyebrow. 

“You’re right,” he said. “It’s definitely more of a hostage situation.”

She burst out laughing. “Could we pay the CDC a ransom to let us go?”

“I could be wrong, but I  _ believe  _ bribing public officials is a criminal offense,” he told her, trying to sound serious.

“Hm. I suppose my bosses at the Post would frown upon that,” she said as she took out her phone to text her roommate.  _ Please help me I am trapped in a six hundred square foot apartment with a man who has no curtains, _ or something to that effect presumably. 

He walked over to the TV and switched it on. “The End of the Fucking World?” he proposed as he searched through Netflix. “That seems appropriate.”

“How about something lighter?” she suggested. “A comedy?”

“Um, we could do the Office or Parks and Rec,” he said as he scrolled through the comedy section. “Archie keeps telling me to watch Schitt’s Creek.”

“Veronica told me to watch it, too!” she told him. 

“Should we do it?” he asked.

“Let’s do it,” she said, coming over to the futon. She stopped and looked at it without sitting down. 

“You can have a seat,” he said, scooting over to give her more room. 

“Where… how  _ old  _ is this futon?” she asked.

“Uh… I’m actually not sure,” he told her. “I got it for free off Craigslist.”

“ _ Oh _ …,” she said nodding, “how  _ frugal  _ of you.” She sat gingerly on the edge. 

“It has character,” he said defensively. 

“It  _ probably  _ has mold,” she retorted with a smirk.

He’d never really taken notice of the quality of his futon before, but now that he was really looking at it, it  _ was  _ pretty nasty. 

He got up to grab some Febreeze and the blanket from his bed before returning to the living room. “Here, stand up,” he told her. He sprayed it down and threw the blanket over her side of the futon. 

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” looking almost embarrassed herself. Which was ridiculous since she was the one who was a normal, functioning human being. 

“Sit,” he told her, and she did. “There’s never been signs of bed bugs or anything,” he added before starting the show.

“Well,  _ that’s  _ reassuring,” she said. He looked over at her and she was smiling again.

  
  


++

  
  


“Oh,  _ wow.  _ Mayor de Blasio declared a state of emergency,” he told her, reading the news on his phone.

“ _ Oh _ ,” was all Betty said in response. 

“They’ve also banned any gatherings of over five hundred people. That’s crazy. They shut down all the Broadway shows. This feels like the beginning of every apocalyptic movie ever made,” he said, looking over at her. She was nodding at the TV with wide eyes. 

They were interrupted by the buzzer, alerting them that their groceries had arrived. 

“They’re early!” Betty said, sounding delighted as she popped up from the couch. 

They went down and retrieved the inordinate amount of bags from the foyer. Betty thought they’d have to make two trips, but she underestimated how many bags he could carry at once. She made a comment about it, sounding impressed, so he had that going for him. It had more to do with his stubbornness than his strength, but he didn’t tell  _ her  _ that.

When they returned to his apartment, he unloaded the bags as she organized everything in his fridge and cabinets. He had no clue what he was going to do with half of it after she left. What do you even use cornstarch for? Baking soda  _ and  _ baking powder? Surely you don’t need both.

He appreciated her dedication to humanizing him, so he didn’t comment on her food choices. 

In addition to the groceries, she’d gotten paper products and bath products and  _ cleaning  _ products and all kinds of things he supposed real people had in their homes. 

“Okay, I’m thinking I’ll roast some pork chops with potatoes and asparagus. How does that sound?” she asked.

“Perfect,” he told her.

She turned the oven on and then quickly looked back at him. “Oh,  _ please  _ tell me you have a pan?”

“Yes, I have a  _ pan, _ ” he told her, pulling out the sheet pans from the drawer under the oven that had been left by the previous tenant. 

“Oh, thank god,” she said, bringing a hand to her heart. 

She took them from him, saying, “I’m just going to give these a quick wash.”

She did. Then, she washed his knife. And his sink. And the countertops. And the stove top. He watched on helplessly, unable to assist since he only had one sponge.

“Okay, that should be good for now,” she said as she started taking out food. “Don’t worry, I’ll do a deeper clean later,” she added quietly enough that it seemed like it was more to herself than to him.

As she got to work seasoning and chopping, he asked if there was anything he could do to help.

“Well, I was going to make hamentashen for dessert. You know, since Purim was last weekend.”

He  _ didn’t  _ know. But, he nodded anyway. 

“Do you think you could just follow the recipe for the dough?” she asked, pulling it up on her phone. 

“Oh. Yeah, of course,” he told her. He may have been inexperienced in the kitchen, but he wasn’t an  _ idiot.  _

He pulled down the one large bowl he owned and Betty looked at it in shock. It was a fancy, decorative ceramic thing that Veronica had given him as a housewarming gift. 

“Where’d you get  _ that?” _ she asked. 

“Veronica. I think she felt bad for being the reason I’m no longer living with Archie,” he told her. 

She nodded in understanding and handed him her phone. “I put your new measuring cups in the far left drawer. Let me know if you need help with anything.” She gave him a calculating look, seemingly unsure how much guidance he required. 

“I can do it,” he assured her. “I’ve made cookies with my little sister before.”

“Oh! How sweet,” she said with a beautiful smile.

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, turning away to hide his blush. 

“So, at the risk of repeating conversations we may or may not have had last night, how long have you known Archie?” she asked as she got back to her potatoes. 

“Since we were kids. What about you and Veronica?” he asked, trying to avoid further questioning in regards to his childhood.

“We actually met through my roommate not too long ago. They work together at Tommy Hilfiger,” she explained.

“ _ Oh,  _ yeah, that’s right,” he said, recalling their conversation. “You moved here kind of recently and you don’t know many people in the city.”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s just hard to make friends when-“

“ _ Betty _ , you don’t have to explain yourself. Trust me. I’ve lived here for eight years and I have, like, three and a half friends,” he told her. 

“A half?” she questioned.

“Depends on the day with one of them,” he said, since sometimes Sweet Pea could get on his last nerve. “Where did you say you did your undergrad? Northwestern?”

“Yep,” she said, looking pleased that he remembered. “And you did yours at Columbia.”

“Which is where you’re doing your postgrad,” he said.

“That’s right,” she confirmed. “And now you work for Random House?”

“I do,” he said with a nod. 

“Well, I’m glad we remember all that. It’s a shame we don’t remember more of the good stuff,” she said casually. He looked over at her, but she kept her eyes determinedly down at the food she was preparing. 

“It probably wasn’t even that good. Your perception was skewed by the alcohol,” he said, unable to resist the impulse for self-deprecation.

“You didn’t think it was good?” she asked with a small voice that suggested she’d  _ definitely  _ taken his comment the wrong way. 

“No! I mean, I’m sure  _ you _ were great! I just-“

He was interrupted by her vibrating phone. “My roommate,” she told him before answering. “Hey, Val. Are you downstairs?” she said before heading out the door. 

_ Fuck.  _ He leaned over and banged his head on the counter a few times. He couldn’t be screwing this up more if he  _ tried. _

  
  


++

  
  


He laid there, unable to fall asleep on his nasty fucking futon. He’d pretty much forced Betty to take the bed. For all his flaws, he was at least socially aware enough to recognize that she definitely wouldn’t want him to join her. 

She was so smart. And kind. And witty. And  _ stupidly  _ beautiful. She had a career and she knew how to cook and she probably paid all of her bills on time.

He was a mess. And he wasn’t delusional enough to entertain the idea that she could possibly be attracted to him.

He could hear her talking to her mom on the phone again through the wall. He was able to gather that her mom was freaking out and ready to send in the National Guard and Betty was talking her off the ledge. 

After they’d ended their phone call, it was silent for a while. 

Maybe this would be good for him. Maybe after she left, he could keep up with cleaning and cooking real food. Maybe he’d be in a better place to find someone else to… 

_ What the hell is she doing to me?  _ Never before in his life had he had the desire for a romantic relationship. She’d only been there for twenty four hours and he was already dreading being left alone again. 

His thoughts were interrupted by the opening of his bedroom door. “Everything alright?” he asked, sitting up. 

She walked over and stopped beside the futon. “I can’t in good conscience allow you to sleep here,” she told him definitively. “That futon is a  _ biohazard _ . I think you should just… just stay in the bed with me.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, sounding more eager than he’d intended. 

“Yes. My skin is crawling just imagining you spending the night here. So, just- I mean, it’s not a big deal, right?” she finished with her determined energy faltering a bit.

“No, not at all,” he said, getting up and grabbing the blanket. 

“ _ No _ ,” she said quickly. “Leave that here. It’s got futon germs on it.”

“Got it,” he said with a chuckle as he tossed it back onto the futon. 

He followed her into the bedroom and climbed in after her. 

“I’ll be honest, I’m impressed that you use the top sheet,” she whispered to him. They laid facing each other, their faces inches apart. 

“I’m full of surprises,” he told her. 

After a beat of silence, she asked, “Are you worried?”

“About what?” he asked. 

“The virus. Society shutting down. All that stuff?” 

“No. Not really,” he told her honestly. It was kind of strange, but it certainly seemed like the sort of thing that would blow over after a few weeks. “Are you?”

“No,” she said quickly. “Me neither.”

“I’m sorry that you’re stuck here with me,” he told her for the thousandth time.

“Stop apologizing. I like being here with you,” she said, seeming to mean it.

“You  _ like  _ cleaning my house and cooking food? Because I am a totally dysfunctional social misfit who never learned how to adult?” 

She laughed. “I don’t mind. It’s providing a nice distraction from the chaos,” she told him. “And I’m sorry if I’m overwhelming you. I know I can be kind of-“

“ _ No.  _ You’re not overwhelming me. I really appreciate everything you’re doing. Really.”

In his whole life he’d never had anyone dote on him or worry about him as much as she had in the past twelve hours. He couldn’t say that he minded it one bit. 

“Just let me know if it’s too much and I’ll back off,” she said quietly. 

_ Impossible. I am yours to mold. Consider me your slave for the next two weeks as you provide this crash course in How To Live Like a Normal Person.  _

“Okay,” he said, nodding.

“Okay. Well, goodnight, Jughead,” she told him.

“Goodnight, Betty.”

They closed their eyes, but there was no way he’d be able to turn off his brain enough to sleep. It felt like all of his life he’d been seeing in black and white and suddenly there was color. 

So,  _ this _ is what they’d all been talking about.  _ This _ is what it felt like to fall for a girl.  _ This _ is why Archie lost his mind every time a new one caught it eye. 

It made sense. He got it. After all these years, he fucking got it. His heart was racing and his stomach felt weird and  _ who the hell am I?  _ he thought to himself. 

As he was experiencing this major paradigm shift of sorts, Betty slid her hand across the bed and placed it on his arm. He tried to keep his breathing even, so she wouldn’t know that he was still awake. 

After a few moments of stillness, she shifted closer, pressing her body against his and nuzzling her face into his chest. 

_ Oh, fuck it.  _ He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for kudos and comments, friends! I appreciate the seratonin in these trying times. 
> 
> I’d like to note that I’m not trying to aggressively push any gender roles here. I am totally Jughead in this story and my husband is more of a Betty (though not to these extremes). It just seemed to suit their characters to do it this way. 
> 
> I hope you all are doing well and coping with your various challenges at this time. Sending love you you all 🖤🖤
> 
> Thanks again to Trinnie for her help with this chapter.

He woke up to the smell of bacon. It was amazing and delightful and  _ definitely  _ disorienting. 

He rubbed his eyes and recalled the events of the previous day.  _ Thirteen more days,  _ he thought to himself. Thirteen days of tantalizing, fake domestic bliss. Thirteen days of trying to keep this from being the most awkward and horrible experience of Betty’s life.

Jughead generally  _ hated  _ sharing a living space with people, but it turned out he was very willing to make an exception for beautiful blondes who made him  _ feel _ things. 

Betty had reacted very well to the whole situation. Like,  _ really  _ well. In fact, she was shockingly cavalier about being quarantined with a relative stranger who was an actual human disaster during an international pandemic. 

He rolled out of bed and made his way out to the kitchen, where Betty was manning the stove. Her laptop was open on the counter with her email pulled up and some music playing in the background. 

She’d unfortunately changed out of his clothes and into her own. She looked unfairly adorable in little shorts and a t-shirt from a Mexican restaurant that said, “Rock Out With Your Guac Out.”

“Morning!” she greeted when she realized he was there. “Perfect timing, because I’m just starting the pancakes. Here’s some bacon to hold you over,” she said, sliding the plate across the table.

He took a bite. She’d picked a thick cut with great flavor. It wasn’t too crispy or soft, it was that perfect happy medium that people rarely seemed to get just right. But, she did. Of fucking  _ course _ she did. 

He was overcome with the strongest urge to just walk over and plant a kiss on her cheek, which he obviously did not do. 

Instead, he just told her, “This bacon is amazing,” through a full mouth of food like a heathen. 

“I’m glad you like it!” she told him cheerfully.

“I’m just gonna jump in the shower really quick, if that’s okay,” he said, grabbing another piece of bacon.

“Of course! It’s your house. You can do whatever you want,” she said as she flipped a pancake. 

“Oh, yeah, no, I just… okay,” he said awkwardly before turning to head into the bathroom. “Did you clean in here?” he called out to her. 

His entire sink area was white. He thought the ceramic was more of a muted yellowy grey? But, apparently it was supposed to be white? His reflection in the mirror had never looked so clear. Everything was spotless. It smelled like the bathroom he’d used once at Veronica’s parents’ house. 

The idea that this girl had just scrubbed his shamefully disgusting toilet was kind of horrifying. 

“Uh… do you know where the shower curtain is?” he popped his head out to ask.

“ _ Oh!  _ I’m so sorry!” she said, rushing over to pull it out of the dryer along with the bath mat and his towel. “I actually, I’m sorry if this is too much, but I  _ actually _ purchased a  _ few  _ things from Bed Bath and Beyond this morning and just did their fastest shipping option. So, we should be getting just a  _ few  _ boxes over the next couple of days with some more household items for you. I got you a new shower curtain and liner and everything, but I wanted to wash these in the meantime to hold us over. Although, I must admit I felt some degree of guilt decimating the beautiful ecosystem of mold spores you’d so dutifully cultivated.”

The corners of her mouth twitched into a smirk and he had to laugh. “I didn’t know you could wash those.”

“You can. And, you should,” she told him solemnly. 

“Noted,” he said with a nod. “Thank you. For doing all this, I mean.”

“It’s not a big deal, trust me. Here, I’ll help you hang these up,” she said, leading him back into the bathroom. She stood up on the tub, giving him a great view of her legs, and he helped her hook everything back together. 

“Wait, so what time did you wake up to do all this?” he asked. It wasn’t even 10am.

“Oh, it was just one of those nights where I had a hard time sleeping, you know? I’m not sure exactly what time I got up,” she said offhandedly. 

“Did you sleep  _ at all? _ ” he asked.

“Yes, of course! Of course. I just woke up early and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I didn’t check the time, so…” she finished with a shrug.

“Do you think you’d sleep better if you had the bed to yourself?” he asked, feeling guilty since she  _ clearly  _ did not feel comfortable in his bed or apartment. 

“ _ No! _ ” she said quickly. “No, I… I’m pretty sure I’d actually sleep better if I wasn’t alone.”

“Okay, just, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”  _ Like, I don’t know, I could knit you a new blanket or buy a new bed or put my best effort in trying to give you an orgasm to help you fall asleep.  _

“Yeah, sure. Of course!” she assured him with a bright smile.

  
  


++

  
  


“Oh my  _ god.  _ I just talked to Val and she told me what happened! What’s going on? Where is Betty? Is she okay? BETTY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?” Veronica yelled over the phone via FaceTime. 

“She’s right  _ here. _ She’s just working,” he said, walking the phone over to where she was typing away at the table. 

“Betty! Thank  _ god  _ you’re alright. I’ve seen his hovel, Betty. I know how he  _ lives.  _ I’m so sorry that you’re being subjected to this!” Veronica said dramatically.

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” Betty lied. 

“I know you’re only saying that because you’re too kind to speak candidly. What can I do for you? Do you need food? Water? A toothbrush? A hazmat suit? What? What can I do? Did he make you sleep on  _ the futon,  _ Betty? Jughead,  _ please  _ tell me you haven’t subjected her to the futon.”

He turned the phone to put himself on camera. “I did  _ not  _ make her sleep on the futon. I sprayed it with extra Febreze and-“

“ _ Febreze?  _ Jughead, that thing is a menace to society. It should be  _ burned.  _ Turn me back to Betty,” she commanded.

“Jughead is being very accommodating and you don’t need to worry about us,” she told her. 

Us.  _ Us.  _ He wasn’t sure why the use of this innocuous plural pronoun was affecting him, but that was truly how gone for this girl he was. 

“How did you end up at his place, anyway?” Veronica asked. “I thought you guys were just sharing an Uber?”

Wow. His love life was truly so barren, Veronica hadn’t even entertained the notion that he could have hooked up with Betty. He would have been offended, but he could kind of see why.

Betty’s eyes went wide. “ _ Oh, _ well _ ,  _ I-“

“ _ I  _ was too drunk to function,” he interrupted. “Betty helped me up to my apartment and ended up crashing here.”

“ _ On the futon?! _ ” Veronica asked in horror. 

“No, not  _ on the futon.  _ I’m letting her have the bed,  _ obviously _ ,” he said without really specifying where  _ he  _ was sleeping.

“Well, he’s nothing if not a gentleman, Betty,” Veronica told her. “I’ll give him that.”

“He’s fine, Veronica! We’re fine. You don’t need to worry, I promise,” she assured her. 

“So, are you feeling sick, Jughead? Do you think you have the virus?” Veronica asked.

“No, I don’t think so? I mean, I feel fine,” he told her. 

“Things are getting crazy out here. Stores and closing and everyone’s working from home if they can. The Tribeca Film Festival is being postponed. Coachella might be cancelled. Dior cancelled their spring show. Gucci has halted all production! It’s like the four horsemen of the apocalypse, I swear,” she said.

“Aren’t there, like, people dying? And hospitals running out of space? And people missing work who are in need of income? And parents unable to find childcare because schools are closing? Do you think maybe those would make better choices for potential apocalyptic horsemen?” he asked. 

Veronica’s lack of self-awareness in regards to her privilege was admittedly kind of frustrating for him at times. 

“Oh, it’s all  _ relative,  _ Jughead, I know that-“

“Okay, we actually have to go, Veronica,” Betty said, interrupting them. “I’m sorry, I just have so much work I need to do. I promise I’ll let you know if we need anything, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, sounding a little put off. “Be sure to keep in touch and again, Betty, I am  _ so  _ sorry about this. I know he can be a bit  _ much _ , just try to be patient and-“

“ _ That’s  _ enough. We’ll talk to you later. Bye, Veronica,” he said before hanging up on her. “It's sort of ominous what’s going on out there. I just wonder what kind of lasting impact this is going to have economically. Like, is this going to jumpstart another recession? Companies are already laying off employees due to-“

“Can we, uh…,” she said, cutting him off. “I mean, I really do need to get back to my work-“

“Oh! No, yeah, of course. Me, too. I’ll just be over on the futon if you need anything,” he said, going back to his spot. 

_ Of course she doesn’t want to just waste her time talking to you, asshole. She’s an actual productive member of society who doesn’t spend half her day procrastinating.  _

“ _ Oh,  _ why don’t you come sit at the table with me?” she asked. “It’s a much more comfortable workspace.”

“I don’t want to be a distraction,” he told her. 

“No! No, you won’t be. Just, come sit with me,” she said in a tone that he knew he’d never be able to say no to.

“Alright,” he said, gathering his things and setting up across the table from her.

She got back to work, as did he. At some point, she gently leaned her leg against his. He waited a moment to make sure it hadn’t been an accident before shifting his foot a bit closer hers. He figured it was sort of a  _ yes, I, too, want this to be happening  _ kind of signal. He heard her let out a breath before she continued typing. 

  
  


++

  
  


“What are you doing?” she asked from the kitchen where she was preparing a stir fry for dinner.

“Oh, I just noticed this was dirty. Figured I would handle it before you inevitably made your way over here,” he said as he started cleaning the windowsill in the living room. 

She snorted a laugh.

“What?! I can clean!” he told her.

Betty seemed to spend every waking moment either working, cooking, or cleaning. It left him feeling too guilty to sit and watch TV, so he had to do  _ something  _ productive. He didn’t want to ask her what to do, like she was his mother or something. He was a man, damnit. He could identify a household task that needed to be done and then complete it. 

“I don’t know that I would use Windex for that,” she said, smiling. 

“Why not? Windex works,” he said, trying to scrub the caked on dusty junk with a paper towel that was slowly disintegrating in his hand. 

“If you say so,” she responded in a song-songy voice. 

There was a knock on the door and they both turned to look at each other before he went over to answer it. He cautiously peeked into the hallway to find one of his neighbors.

“Jughead, hi!” Ethel greeted. “I wanted to check in to see how you were doing. I brought a green bean casserole!” She held up a large glass dish covered with tin foil. 

“Oh. Thanks, Ethel. Come in,” he said, stepping to the side. He ran into Ethel a lot coming in and out of the building. Like, a  _ lot.  _ With almost suspicious frequency. 

“ _ Oh _ , I didn’t realize… Hi, I’m Ethel,” she said, extending a hand to Betty. 

“Sorry, social distancing,” Betty said, putting her hands up in rejection of her handshake. “I’m Betty. It’s nice to meet you.” 

“I thought they weren’t letting guests into the building,” Ethel said, turning back to him. 

“Uh…,” he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “She’d actually already been here and potentially  _ exposed _ when they put the quarantine in place.”

“Betty,” she repeated as she put her dish on the table. “I don’t think Jug’s mentioned you before.”

“It’s new,” she told her.

What’s new?  _ What’s  _ new? Their acquaintance? Their friendship?  _ What? _

“Well, I can’t imagine how awkward it is being trapped in a guy’s apartment you hardly know! Why don’t you bring your stuff up to my place? You’re more than welcome to stay with me,” Ethel said.

“We’ve actually gotten to know each other  _ pretty  _ well, so don't worry about that. Thank you for the offer, though,” Betty said in a tone that made him suppress a smirk.

Ethel looked a bit flustered at that. “Well, I'm just here because I’m checking on the neighbors to make sure everyone’s doing alright,” Ethel told them. 

“The sheet said to stay in your apartment. What if you’ve come into contact with an infected person and you’re spreading it around the building?” Betty’s eyes shot to the casserole as if it was a time bomb.

“Oh, well, I guess you were actually my first stop,” she said with a giggle. 

“We have plenty of food. I guess we got our order in just in time before the panic shopping really hit. You should probably bring that to someone who needs it. Maybe Pop Tate on the third floor?” he suggested. 

“That… yeah, that’s a good idea,” she said, picking up her casserole. 

“We really do appreciate it,” Betty said in a softer tone. “Thank you for checking in.”

Ethel’s eyes snapped to Betty. “I hope you enjoy your stay,” she said in a way that gave Jughead the impression that she very much did not want Betty to enjoy her stay. 

After she shut the door forcefully behind her, they waited a few moments before they both burst into laughter. 

“Well,  _ someone’s _ jealous of my quarantine situation,” Betty said. 

“I couldn’t tell you why,” he told her. 

“Well, I mean, she  _ obviously  _ has a crush on you,” she said.

“That is highly doubtful,” he said honestly. 

“Wait, are you being serious?” she said, turning from the stove to look at him. 

“Betty…,” he started, looking around the room. “You’ve seen the depths of my dysfunction. I admittedly don’t know much about girls, but I don’t think  _ this  _ is attracting anyone,” he said gesturing at himself. 

“Well…,” she said, raising her eyebrows and bobbing her head. “You did get me back here.”

“You weren’t in your right mind,” he reminded her. 

“So, you think when I’m drunk I’d just go home with any guy who invites me over?” she asked. 

He was remarkably bad at this.

“ _ No!  _ No, that’s not what I meant  _ at all _ ,” he quickly backtracked. 

She smiled, thank  _ god.  _ “I’m just kidding, I know you didn’t mean it that way. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, though. All you need is to get in a better routine of keeping up with small tasks around the house. You’re not the lost cause you think you are.”

“Well, that’s nice of you to say,” he said, returning to the windowsill to hide his embarrassment at the turn of this conversation. 

“Have you ever had a girlfriend before?” she asked.

“Nope. Just a twenty seven year old guy with the romantic experience of a high schooler,” he said. There was no point in sugar coating it. Either it would be a deal breaker or it wouldn’t. 

“Do you…  _ prefer  _ to be single? Or, have you just not found the right person?” she asked. 

“Um… both? I’ve never really minded being single,”  _ (until yesterday),  _ “so I don’t do much,” _ (or anything at all), _ “ to pursue relationships. But, it’s not like I’m  _ opposed _ to being in a relationship.” ( _ Please know that I am 100% willing to be in a relationship with you.) _

“Hm… so you’ve just been sitting around, waiting for a girl to get trapped in your house with you?” she teased. 

He looked over at her in surprise, but her eyes never left her pan. “I guess the universe realized I needed some divine intervention.”

She laughed and said, “I think the universe realized you needed some divine intervention to survive this pandemic.”

“I’m very grateful. I’d be living off Fruit by the Foot and Ethel’s casserole were it not for you,” he told her.

“Yes, stuck here alone with your mold colony,” she responded. “I shudder at the thought.”

  
  


++

  
  


“ _ U.S. coronavirus cases have surpassed 2,000. More than four dozen people have died, including two people in New Jersey and two people in New York _

_ Governors in New York and New Jersey have declared states of emergency, and the usage of public transit is plunging- _ “

“Do you mind if we turn that off?” Betty asked as she scrubbed the interior of his refrigerator. He’d switched to the antenna to put on the news, because it just seemed like the sort of thing you were supposed to do at times like these. 

“Yeah, of course,” he told her. “Want to keep watching our show?” It gave him a thrill that they had a show. A show they were watching together.  _ Their show.  _

“Yes, let's do that.” she agreed. 

“You can take a break, you know. It’s almost nine o’clock. You’ve been working all day,” he said. “If it’s the futon you’re afraid of, you can pull over a kitchen chair.”

She laughed. “It’s not  _ that.  _ I just… I just like to keep busy.”

“Do you  _ always  _ keep this busy?” he asked. “Or is this specially reserved for when you find yourself quarantined in cesspools?”

“This isn’t a  _ cesspool.  _ It’s just… giving me something to do, I suppose. I had one of those moms who always had us doing  _ something  _ around the house. You couldn’t ever say you were bored or she’d give you a chore to do. So, it’s kind of ingrained in me to stay busy.”

“Well, from a kid’s perspective that sounds terrible,” he said as he got up to join her in the kitchen. “But, it seems to have been beneficial long term. You’re remarkably good at being a productive and responsible adult. What can I do to help?”

“Oh, you don’t have to do anything. It’s kind of an  _ it’s not you, it’s me _ situation. Just because I am experiencing the compulsive urge to deep clean doesn’t mean that you’re obligated to participate.”

“What can I do, Betty?” he asked again. 

“Here,” she said, pulling out the produce drawers. “You can start cleaning these. If you really want to.”

“Windex and paper towels?” he asked.

She laughed. “I bought you a kitchen cleaner! Use it!”

“Okay, okay,” he acquiesced. “So, uh… I’d been meaning to ask you, I mean, since we talked about where  _ I’m  _ at with dating earlier, I was just wondering....”

_ Where are you going with this, Jughead???  _

_ “ _ ...where  _ you _ are in terms of, um,”

_ Is there a chance you are currently in a place where you’d theoretically want to date anyone, i.e. me?? _

“Are you... are you single?” he finished with his voice embarrassingly going up an octave. 

“You think I’d sleep with you if I was seeing someone?” she turned to ask. 

He was actually hopeless. There was truly no hope for him.

“Of course not,” he said dejectedly. “I’m just an idiot and an asshole and I-“

“ _ Jughead _ . I am  _ kidding! _ And, I’m single, for the record. It’s not like I have time to date when I’m working full time plus grad school,” she told him, before quickly adding, “Not that I’m not interested in seeing  _ anyone! _ I just haven’t had time to, like… go meet people.”

“So, you were just hoping to get trapped in a random guy’s house?” he asked, making her laugh.

“I, too, was in need of divine intervention I suppose,” she told him. 

Okay, he hated getting his hopes up. It was the worst. As a general rule, his hopes were never allowed to ascend in any way. But, they seemed to be going up involuntarily because he really felt like he was somehow miraculously killing it with this girl?? Which was strange given the circumstances and the fact that she’d spent two days calling him out on his repugnant living conditions. But, for some reason this wasn’t a deal breaker for her? He couldn’t fathom what she saw in him. She must have been exceptionally lonely. 

Her phone started vibrating on the table and he picked it up to hand it to her. She glanced at it and rolled her eyes before rejecting the call.

He looked at her questioningly, but wasn’t sure if he would be prying if he asked who it was. 

“My mom,” she told him simply.

“She calls you a lot,” he said, in case she hadn’t noticed. 

“That she does,” she said with a sigh. 

“Does she live near here?” he asked. 

“Upstate, where I’m from. She’s never approved of me living in this ‘hellish, crime ridden’ city and she’s always trying to convince me to move back home to help her run our local newspaper. If that ever happens, you’ll know that I’ve reached rock bottom and am on Plan Z, because that is pretty much the last thing on the world I want to do.”

“I’m guessing she’s not handling all this very well?” he asked. 

“Of course not,” she said as she aggressively scrubbed some mystery liquid that had solidified in the back corner of the fridge. “She’s acting like living in the city is a death sentence and wants me to come home as soon as this quarantine is over. Actually, she was trying to tell me to ignore the quarantine and just come home now. But, I  _ won’t.  _ I’m  _ never  _ going back there.” She sat up and wiped some sweat from her forehead. “I mean, I’ll still go home sometimes for holidays, but you know what I mean.”

“I do know what you mean,” he said, handing her one of the drawers that he’d finished cleaning. “I have a strict intermittent holiday visit policy with my parents as well.”

She nodded in understanding. “Where are they?” 

“My mom is in Toledo and my dad is in prison,” he told her. He normally lied about his dad, for the sake of not making conversations awkward. But, he felt like she wouldn’t judge him. She hadn’t judged him yet, even though he’d given her plenty of reasons to. 

To his surprise, her face lit up. “No way! My dad is in prison too!” 

“Well, what a coinkydink,” he said like a dork.

“What did yours do?” she asked.

“Ran a gang. Was involved in crimes ranging from drugs to murder. I don’t know that he ever  _ did  _ the murdering, but he was at least involved in covering them up,” he told her. “What about you?”

“Serial killer,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Turns out he was secretly a deranged sociopath.”

“Well, look at us,” he said.

“Look at us!” she echoed with a smile. 

He’d never been so fucking happy about his dad’s incarceration in his life. 

“So, What prison is your dad in?” he asked her. 

As they scrubbed the interior and exterior of the fridge and freezer, they chatted away about their dad’s crimes and trials and prison visitations. He told her things he’d never spoken aloud to another soul. She told him about horrible experiences he could profoundly relate to. 

It was  _ awesome.  _

  
  


++

  
  


As he was brushing his teeth, Betty slid in and started brushing hers beside him. He caught her eye in the mirror and she winked at him. 

_ She winked _ . Because she was trying to kill him. 

_ You can stay, you know. You can stay and we can do this every night until one of us dies. Or, more realistically, we could find a nicer apartment somewhere to share. I’d even move to the suburbs with you (but, you don’t seem like the suburbs kind of girl, thank god). Basically, I would follow you to the ends of the earth if you let me. But, not right now, since we’re in quarantine and they’re putting travel restrictions in place.  _

He finished and went back into his room, leaving her to partake in whatever nightly girl ritual she needed to do at the sink. 

He climbed into bed and looked at his phone as he waited for Betty to join him. It wasn’t just them in quarantine.  _ Everyone  _ seemed to be quarantining themselves. How long would it last? How was the infrastructure of society going to withstand this major disruption? Were there going to be major shortages of essential products? Were there going to be runs on the bank? The entire thing was just so foreign and unprecedented, he didn’t know what to make of it all.

When Betty returned, he didn’t bring any of this up with her because she seemed pretty cagey any time he tried to broach the subject. 

“Are you _ sure  _ there’s nothing I can do to help you sleep better?” he asked as she climbed into bed. 

“I’m  _ fine _ , Jughead,” she assured him. “It’s not you, or…  _ the bed _ , or anything. I just have a hard time sleeping sometimes”

“Okay,” he said as his hand involuntarily reached out to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. She looked pleased and it suddenly dawned on him.

He had no fucking clue what he was doing. The signs were there. He was about 85% sure that she maybe was at least slightly into him. So, uh, what the hell was he supposed to do about it?? 

Under normal circumstances, he could just ask her out and then kiss her at the end of the night. Not that he’d actually  _ done  _ that before, but he was pretty sure that was standard procedure. 

What was he supposed to do here? Just kiss her whenever?? What did he do the first time they hooked up? The most successful romantic endeavor in his life and he couldn’t even remember it. 

What he  _ didn’t  _ want was to make her feel uncomfortable in any way. She was literally trapped here with no means of escape. That sort of threw off their power dynamics a bit. 

No,  _ she  _ had to make the first move. Or, be really bluntly and unmistakably obvious about wanting him to make a move. 

“Jughead… can you hold me?” she asked in a small voice.

Well,  _ that  _ was pretty hard to misinterpret. 

He opened his arms in invitation and she rolled into him, nuzzling her head into his chest and wrapping her arms tightly around him.

He could get used to this.

  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you are all doing as well as you can under the circumstances. 
> 
> Can’t tell you how much I appreciate your comments. One day I’ll get around to replying to them all. (Will today be the day?? Time will tell.)
> 
> Thank you to Trinnie & Izzy for helping me with this chapter 🖤🖤

Mmm… he woke up to the smell of cinnamon buns. He hopped out of bed more cheerfully than he ever had before in his life. 

There was a pretty girl staying with him whose company he enjoyed who made him cinnamon rolls for breakfast. It was truly the best case scenario for a quarantine situation. 

Entering the kitchen, he found the pan of cooling cinnamon rolls on the stove. Betty’s workspace was set up at her spot at the table, but she wasn’t there. 

He heard a scratching sound coming from behind the bathroom door. Drawing closer, he could make out the sound of a podcast or video or something playing as well. He gave a knock on the door. “Betty?” he asked cautiously, not quite sure what he was interrupting. 

“Come in!” she called and he tentatively opened the door. 

She was still in her pajamas, squatting in the empty bathtub, scraping the corner where the tub met the wall with a manic energy. Her phone was propped up on the top of the toilet playing an instructional YouTube video.

“Morning!” she greeted. Her hair was tied back haphazardly with a halo of frizz around her face. 

“Hey, Betts. How’s it going?” he asked gently. “What, uh… whatcha got going on here?”

“Well,” she said, still scraping vigorously. “The first box came in with stuff that I ordered from Home Depot. I’m trying to scrape off all the old caulking on here so I can re-caulk it.”

“Oh, can I help you?” he asked, coming over to sit on the edge of the tub. 

“There isn’t much you can do right now, because I only have one scraper. I could use your help when I get to the caulking part,” she told him.

“Why don’t you go eat some breakfast and I’ll work on this?” he suggested, placing a hand on her back. 

“No,” she said, turning to look at him with wild eyes. “I mean, I’m just on a roll here and I’m almost done.” She looked about a quarter done. “So, you go eat and whatever. I’ll let you know when I need you.”

“Betty, have you slept at all?” he asked.

“Of course I slept!” she snapped at him. “I’m sorry, I’m just… I’m sorry. I’ll come get you when I need you, okay?”

“Okay,” he agreed. “I’ll just be out here,” he told her before exiting the bathroom. 

The interaction left him with the distinct impression that something was not right. 

He understood the cleaning. Of course she’d want to clean the space she’d be stuck in for two weeks. Cleaning under the appliances had seemed a bit excessive to him, but he got that some people cared about that sort of thing. 

Caulking the bathtub, though? That wasn’t normal… right? 

It was like she just couldn’t stop. She’d seemingly ran out of things to clean and was now… caulking his bathtub. 

Something about it was just setting off alarms for him.

Something was not right.

  
  


++

  
  


While they were working at the table, the buzzer went off again to alert them of yet another package. 

“I’ll get it,” she said excitedly before heading out the door. 

It was barely noon and they’d already received three large boxes since he’d woken up. 

She’d gotten him the shower curtain she’d told him about, as well as new hooks to hang it on and a bath mat. A set of fluffy, white bath towels. Kitchen gadgets with indiscernible functions. A set of knives. Dish towels. A toothbrush holder. A hamper. 

It’s not that he didn’t appreciate it. He did. This was the most concerned anyone had ever been about him and his living conditions. It had only been a few days and the place actually looked halfway presentable. He was really, really appreciative of that. 

But, he still couldn’t help but feel like Betty was… not okay. 

Any mention of the pandemic seemed to send her into a tailspin of productivity. She was hyper focused on her “project” of refurbishing his apartment to an alarming degree. 

Based on her reaction in the bathtub, he wasn’t sure than confronting her about it would be very effective. So, he was just going along with it until he could figure out a better course of action. 

When he heard her in the hall, he went over to open the door and help her in.

“Alright, what’s my next surprise?” he asked as she started opening the box. 

“We’ve got a new comforter set!” she said, pulling it out.

We’ve got a new comforter set. He could almost imagine a fantasy world where they were engaged and receiving gifts from their wedding registry. 

That was certainly a new daydream for him.

“I hope you like the pattern, I know I should have asked first-“

“It’s great, Betty,” he told her. It was a dark blue comforter with coordinating plaid flannel sheets, fairly similar to the ones he already had. “I do like it.”

“Okay, well let me just throw this all in the wash so we can use it tonight,” she said, taking everything out of the packaging. 

He wasn’t sure why it needed to be washed since it was brand new, but he knew better than to question it. 

“Oh, and we got your valence!” she said, pulling a smaller package from the bottom of the box.

“My, uh… what now?” he asked. 

“A valence,” she repeated, showing him the picture on the package. It was a weird little half curtain. 

“It’s for the window over your sink. It’ll match the curtains I got for your living room. We can put them up once we get the curtain rods in.”

“Oh… great!” he said, before noticing that JB was trying to FaceTime him.

“My sister,” he said, flashing Betty the screen before answering. “Hey, doofus.”

“Jug! Have you got the virus yet? I hear it’s going around the city,” she said, laying on her bed at home. 

“Not yet, but here’s hoping my time will come,” he joked as he went to sit on the futon. 

“Wouldn’t be surprised. I bet you never wash your hands,” she said like the little brat she was. 

“I wash my hands a normal amount!” he defended. “Why aren’t you at school?”

“They sent us home. I think most colleges have at this point. Probably going to finish the rest of the semester online, which is totally going to suck. You know how bad the WiFi is here,” she said.

“Man, I wish you could come stay with me,” he told her. He rarely got to spend much time with her and he was always trying to get her to come visit. “But, this probably isn’t the best time to be in the city. Also, my building is under involuntary quarantine at the moment.”

“What?! Why? What happened?” she asked. 

“Our mail person tested positive and some people along the route were getting sick. Not allowed to leave for two weeks to make sure we don’t have it and spread it,” he told her. 

“Dude, that is crazy! Are you sure you don’t have it?” she asked.

“I mean, I’m not sure sure, but I don’t have any symptoms yet,” he said. “I also don’t get much mail, so…”

“What if you have it and you don’t even know it?” she asked, looking concerned. 

“I mean, I guess that’s a possibility,” he told her. “But, I wouldn’t worry about it, Bean.”

“Mom’s worried. She says it’s a matter of time before people start going crazy and rioting and fighting to the death over toilet paper,” she said.

“Yeah, that seems like an extreme worst case scenario,” he said.

“Well, she cleared out, like, every store in the area. We have over a hundred rolls of toilet paper,” she told him.

“Oh, she would be that person. The only reason there’s a shortage is because of insane people like her,” he said. 

“Well, she says that with all of these people out of work, when they start running out of money they’re gonna do drastic shit like breaking into stores and people’s houses and stuff. She says-“

“Jellybean,” he interrupted. “Since when does mom have any clue about anything? Don’t listen to her. She has no idea what she’s talking about.”

He didn’t want her worrying about this stuff that was very unlikely to happen and he certainly didn’t want to trigger Betty’s apparent anxiety over the situation. 

“Yeah, that’s true. So, you’re stuck in your tiny apartment all alone for two weeks? Are you going insane yet?” she asked. 

“Well…” he wasn’t sure if he would be opening a can of worms by telling her about Betty, but there was no real reason to hide her. “I’m actually not completely alone.”

He slowly turned the phone to face Betty, who looked over from her computer to give a little wave.

Jellybean screeched.

“WHAT? WHAT? Ohmygod, WHAT? What is going on right now? Who is that? Who are you!?”

“Calm down,” he said, feeling embarrassed already. “This is my friend, Betty. She happened to have crashed at my place because she helped me get home when I was drunk on Saturday, and is now stuck here due to the quarantine. That’s all there is to it.”

“Oh my god,” she said before devolving into fits of laughter. “Can I talk to her? Please let me talk to her.”

“She’s busy working,” he told her.

“No I’m not,” Betty said cheerfully with a mischievous smile. 

He tried to give his most unimpressed look as she walked over, standing behind the futon to lean over his shoulder. 

“Hi, I’m Betty,” she said. 

“You’re really pretty,” his sister stated. 

“Thanks, so are you!” she responded. 

“Oh, she’s way out of your league, dude,” Jellybean said, shaking her head.

“I’m well aware,” he responded, wanting to die.

“I can’t believe you’re stuck with my brother for two weeks. I am so sorry. You must be absolutely miserable,” she said, laughing maniacally once again. 

“I’m not that bad!” he said defensively.

“You really are,” Jellybean said emphatically. “You live like a slob and you just mope around all the time making sarcastic comments and complaining about things.”

Betty laughed at that. “He must be on his best behavior for me.”

“I’m sure he is! Don’t buy it, Betty! It’s false advertising!”

“Okay, that’s enough out of you,” he said as Betty and Jellybean laughed at his expense. 

“I kid, I kid. Jughead is great and he’s a good brother and I look forward to seeing you at Christmas and blah blah blah-“

“Alright, we gotta go. I’ll talk to you later,” he said to cut her off.

“Okay, have fun with the pretty girl! Don’t forget to be safe while you’re killing time-“

He hung up before she could finish that sentence. 

“I’m so sorry about her, I hope she didn’t make you feel uncomfortable,” he said, turning to Betty. 

She sat on the hard, metal armrest of the futon. “Of course not!” she assured him. “She’s cute.”

“But, uh… the one thing she said did make me think… I don’t think we… I mean, I know I don’t have any condoms, so when we-“

“I’m on birth control,” she quickly told him. “The Depo shot. I get it every three months. So, you don’t need to worry about that. And, uh… I’ve only had sex with two people and I’ve been tested since I broke up with my ex, so…”

“Well, I’ve only had sex-“

“Five times and that was back in college,” she finished for him with a smile. 

He chuckled. “Yeah, and I’ve also been tested since then, so…”

“So… we’re good?” she asked. 

“Yeah, we’re good,” he agreed.

Why did that feel weirdly final? We’re good. He hated the sound of it for some reason.

“And, uh, what your sister said? About me being out of your league? You know that’s not true, right? Like, I get if you were just agreeing with her to be polite, but you said something yesterday that-“

“Betty,” he said. “Please don’t patronize me. I’m self-aware enough to know that you are absolutely and completely-“

Betty'd gotten up to silence him with a firm but fleeting kiss on the lips. 

She pulled back and cleared her throat. “I’m gonna go make lunch,” she told him before walking away as if nothing had happened. 

He sat in a daze for a few moments before getting up to return to the table. He pretended to work while trying not to smile like an idiot. 

Well, that didn’t seem very final.

  
  


++

  
  


Apparently they were just going to ignore the kiss.

It wasn’t a great time. He knew that. They were in quarantine and she was stressed and whatever this was was just an additional question mark amidst all the other uncertainties. 

So, he let it be.

She’d spent most of the afternoon in his bedroom, as they both had calls they needed to be on. She emerged around six looking flustered.

“Rough afternoon?” he asked from where he stood at the counter eating chips and salsa. 

“You could say that,” she said as she began aggressively pulling things down from the cabinet. “My last meeting went on forever because everyone just wanted to talk about… you know.”

He did. And he knew how much it affected her. 

“I wanted to start dinner,” he told her. “But, you said you were making pizza and I didn’t see one in the freezer. So, I made you a hot pocket. In case you’re hungry.” He pulled the plate out of the microwave and set it beside her. 

She looked down at it and then let out a deep sigh. “Thank you,” she said as she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She took a bite before starting to add ingredients to her mixing bowl.

“Here’s how you make a real pizza,” she said as she began cooking. She still seemed on edge as she announced each step of the process, seeming not to care whether he wanted this crash course or not. 

(He’d be delighted to listen to her explain just about anything.)

The buzzer went off again as she aggressively beat and kneaded the pizza dough, so he went down to retrieve the seventh box of the day.

He honestly couldn’t imagine what else his apartment could possibly need? He felt like he now had every household item imaginable? He had to figure out how to pay her back, but he had a feeling that was going to be a challenge. 

“Delivery for Miss Cooper!” he announced as he opened the door.

She jumped in surprise and brought a hard to her heart. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” he apologized. 

“No, you’re fine! I’m just… we don’t have a lot of people coming and going, I guess.”

“What treasures await us inside this box?” he asked as he gave it a little shake.

“I honestly don’t even know,” she said, turning back to put the pizza into the oven. 

“Can I open it?” he asked, going to retrieve one of his new knives to slice the tape.

“Of course! It’s your stuff,” she told him. 

“You know, Betty, I can’t let you pay for all this,” he said tentatively. 

“You can and you will,” she said assertively. 

“But, you at least have to let me-“

“You didn’t want this stuff, you probably don’t even need half of this stuff, so there’s no reason for you to pay for- oh, is that the other Home Depot box?” she asked, coming over to look inside. “Yes!” She held up a scrub brush with a look of victory. 

“What’s all this?” he asked, looking through the box with various tools and things. 

“I'm gonna go fix your leaky shower head and then scrub the rust stain on the tub. Can you keep an eye on the pizza? Take it out when the cheese is melted and just starting to brown.” She took the box and happily bounced into the bathroom. 

He stared at the oven for a while. 

He felt weird. 

Maybe because it was his third day being stuck in his apartment? Maybe the lack of sunlight? He’d never been particularly outdoorsy, but being in quarantine was making him realize how much he’d like to just go outside for no particular reason at all. 

He opened the windows to get some fresh air. It was a little cold, but felt amazing. He looked down at the fire escape, which gave him an idea. 

He took the pizza out of the oven and went in to check on Betty. 

“Hey, Betts,” he greeted, walking in to find his shower disassembled. 

“Hey, can you pass me that O-ring?” she asked as she examined the inside of his shower head. 

“The, uh… what now?” he asked, looking at the array of doodads on the toilet seat that he should probably be able to identify. 

“The black rubber ring there,” she said, pointing to the thingy she wanted. 

He handed it to her. “So, uh, I was thinking we could both use some fresh air. Do you want to eat dinner on the fire escape? Or even just sit out there for a few minutes? Because I feel like-“

“I can’t right now, Jug. I really need to get this fixed and then get to work on that stain. Maybe later?” she asked, briefly glancing up from her task.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll bring your dinner in here?” 

“That would be great! Thank you,” she said. 

He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to get her to talk about it. So, he ate his pizza on the (exceptionally clean) bathroom floor as he watched her work. 

At least she wouldn’t be alone. 

  
  
  


++

  
  
  


“Do you want my help?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Because I can take a turn if you want a break.”

“I said I’m fine, Jughead. Please, just… just let me do this, okay?” 

She’d been scrubbing the stain left by the formerly leaking shower head all evening. She tried a variety of cleaning products without much success. The stain was lighter but it was most definitely still there. 

“The one website said to leave that baking soda mix on it overnight. Why don’t we try that? And you can get some sleep and get back to this tomorrow?” he suggested.

“No, I’ll definitely do that before I go to sleep. I just want to do this a little while longer before I go to bed. You go ahead, though,” she said, quickly glancing over her shoulder at him. 

“Betts,” he said with a sigh.

He sat on the edge of the tub and leaned over to squeeze her shoulders. She stopped for a moment and sat up, which he took as a sign to continue. He massaged her shoulders and neck and she shifted her hair to the side. 

“Come to bed with me,” he said lowly in her ear. 

For a moment he thought he had her. But then, she said, “I… I just can’t. You go to bed. I'll come in when I’m done. Promise.”

She turned her head to quickly kiss his cheek before getting back to work.

“Betty… you know it’s all going to be okay, right? It’s not looking like either of us have the virus. We’re able to work from home. They say it’ll have mostly passed in eight weeks-“

“Jughead, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. Please, just… please just leave me be. I’ll be in when I’m done.”

“Okay,” he conceded before leaving the bathroom. 

He laid in bed listening to the sounds of her scrubbing. 

He wasn’t good at this. Interpersonal skills weren’t exactly his strongest suit. Especially when the person in question was a beautiful, yet enigmatic girl who he was very much interested in romantically. Also, given their unusual circumstances of being in involuntary quarantine in the midst of an international pandemic.

It was certainly new territory for him. 

It’s not that he wasn’t affected by the situation. He felt unsettled. He wished life could just go back to normal. He wondered if they were on the brink of complete economic and societal collapse. 

He was just the type of person to grossly underreact to things.

It wasn’t like he could personally do anything about it except stay home and hope for the best. Worrying about it wouldn’t accomplish anything. So, what was the point? 

His whole life had been marked by seemingly catastrophic events. 

His mom walked out with his sister, leaving him alone with his alcoholic father. He thought it was the end of the world, but it wasn’t. 

It got to the point where he couldn’t live with him anymore, leaving him homeless, food-less, and penniless at fifteen. He thought it was the end of the world, but it wasn’t 

When things finally seemed to be getting better with his dad, he was arrested and sent to prison, leaving him to the foster care system. He thought it was the end of the world, but it wasn’t. 

He graduated high school on his own. He got through college on his own. He’d been supporting himself in the city for years now. 

As much as he’d resented the hardships of his life, he was at least grateful that it left him with a sense of confidence in the face of total chaos. If he lost his job and the world fell apart at the seams and they were left in a dystopian society from a YA novel, he actually felt pretty confident in his ability to get by. 

He was scrappy. He could fend for himself. He could take care of Betty.

How was he supposed to explain that to her? “Hey, I know we’ve only known each other for a few days and I can tell you’re panicking about the state of affairs, but I must tell you that In a worst case scenario situation I will absolutely be able to keep you safe and provide for you in the midst of total social collapse. I may not know how to make a pancake, but I can totally shiv a guy if he’s trying to steal our non perishables. So, no need to worry!”

He couldn’t imagine that would be as reassuring to her as it was to him. 

What would be reassuring to her? It was hard to figure that out since she wasn’t really talking to him about it. 

He tried to stay awake until she came to bed, but at some point he must have drifted off to sleep without her.

  
  


++

  
  


He woke up to banging. His first groggy thought was that it was a neighbor, but then he remembered the whole Betty thing and popped out of bed to check on her. 

The sight before him in the living room was… not what he’d expected to find.

His futon was gone. Had she disassembled it and thrown the pieces out the window? He wouldn’t have put it past her.

There was a large box resting against the table. She sat amidst a pile of metal pieces, cushions, and shapeless fabric, trying to force two pieces of something to connect

“Hey, Betts,” he said, walking over to the edge of her work area. 

“Can you hand me that there?” she said, pointing to a pile of small metal things. He reached down and handed it over to her. 

“What’s all this?” he asked.

“New couch,” she said shortly. 

“You bought me a couch? How much was it?” he asked. 

“I don’t know. It’s from Ikea,” she said absentmindedly.

“What did you do with the futon? How did you get that box up here?” he asked. 

“Slipped the delivery guy a generous tip to take care of it. Don’t worry, I washed my hands and made him wash his while he was here. Well, he washed his gloves.”

She was still in her clothes from the previous day. Her eyes had yet to meet his and he couldn’t help but feel like her emotional state was veering close to a total breakdown.

He stepped gingerly over her piles of couch pieces to sit in the small empty space behind her. 

“Be careful! I have everything organized!” she warned. 

“Let me help you,” he pleaded.

“I’ve got it! I don’t need your help. I’m fine, okay?! I’m fine!” she said, sounding frazzled. 

“Betty, when’s the last time you slept?” he asked gently. 

“It doesn’t matter!” she said, not answering his question. 

“Betty,” he said, hauling her into his lap. He held her like a baby, looking down at her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and he honestly wondered if she’d slept at all in the past few days. “Please talk to me. Tell me what’s bothering you. Is it the quarantine? Are you going stir crazy? Are you scared of getting sick? Is it your mom? What is it? Please, just tell me, because I can tell you’re not okay. Let me help you.”

He brushed her hair back from her face and she promptly burst into tears. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of your love 🖤🖤 So sad that this story is coming to an end, but I have more ideas for pandemic-related ficlets that I’d like to get writing. A number of you commented on the last chapter that you wanted more than one more chapter, so I hope this ending is satisfying to you all!
> 
> Thanks again to Trinnie for all of her help with this story and Izzy for her beta-ing services 🖤🖤
> 
> Stay safe, everyone!!

He held her for a while. It felt weirdly cathartic, even though he wasn’t the one crying. Connecting with someone on a deeply vulnerable level just felt really right during this emotionally turbulent time. 

“I’m not sleeping,” she finally choked out. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” he asked, pulling back to look at her. 

“I just can’t stop  _ thinking  _ about it and  _ worrying  _ about it,” she said as she wiped tears from her face. 

“About what?” he asked, deeply curious as to what was specifically bothering her. 

“About  _ everything.  _ Literally everything. I can’t imagine how many people are losing their jobs every day. How are they going to buy food and pay their bills? 

“And, it’s not just us in quarantine. Pretty much  _ everyone  _ is stuck at home at this point. What about kids trapped with their horrible parents or people with abusive partners? Or people who are all alone or who have mental health issues? You are the  _ only _ thing that is making this tolerable. 

“And, what happens when the economy crashes and I lose my job? I  _ can’t  _ go back to live with my mother. I just  _ can’t.  _

“Not to mention all of the people  _ dying! _ There are people dying every day from this thing. Peoples’ moms and dads and friends and kids. What are we supposed to do? I just feel so helpless and all of this is just happening and it all feels so surreal and weird and I hate it.”

He waited for a moment to make sure she was done. “That’s… a lot,” he said, nodding.

“That’s not even all of it!” she said, sniffling. “That’s just the big stuff.”

He couldn’t hold back a little chuckle. “ _ Well,  _ I don’t think we can solve  _ all  _ of those problems.”

“I  _ know  _ we can’t,” she said.

“ _ Bu _ t… we can find some ways to help. I’ve seen online that there are already a bunch of organizations stepping in to help people in need right now. Maybe we can donate? Unless you’ve spent all of your money on my apartment…”

He actually got a smile out of her. “ _ No _ , I haven’t spent  _ all  _ of it.”

“Well, I have some that I’ve been saving for nothing in particular. Why don’t we do some research? Find a few worthy causes to give to? Buy things online if you know anyone running a small business?” he proposed. 

“I think that’s a great idea,” she told him quietly.

“And, we can't check in on  _ every _ person in quarantine. But, we can check on the people we know? Make some phone calls to make sure that everyone is doing okay? I’m sure my sister is miserable being trapped with my mom, so we can FaceTime her again. You guys can laugh at my expense. I’m sure that would brighten her day.” 

He ran his fingers through her hair as he spoke and her breathing was starting to even out.

“I would like that,” she agreed.

“And, it turns out the best way for us to stop the pandemic is to do exactly what we’re doing and not leave the house. So, I think we’re good there. Unless you have some medical training you’ve yet to disclose…”

She smiled again. “ _ No _ .”

“Okay, so we won’t send you to the front lines at New York Presbyterian. Your official government sanctioned task for the pandemic effort is to stay here with me. Think you can handle that for another ten days?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“And, the  _ other  _ thing… Betty, if you lose your job we’ll figure something out, okay?”  _ Like, I don’t know, you could move in with me and I’ll support you until you find a new job? Is that weird to propose at this point?  _

“Okay,” she agreed.

“Any other major concerns you’d like to tackle at this time?”

“No,” she said with a chuckle. “How are you so unfazed by all of this?”

“Well…” he started before taking a deep breath. He typically avoided talking about his past and his  _ feelings  _ in general. At the same time, he felt like he owed it to her to put it all out there. “I mean, you heard most of my sob story when we were talking about our dads. I’ve been homeless and I’ve been in foster care and I guess… I’ve just been through enough shit to trust that it’s all going to turn out okay.”

She brought a hand to his face and ran her thumb along his cheek. “I’m so sorry,” she told him.

“Don’t be. I’m not,” he said. “It just is what it is. There’s no point dwelling on it or feeling bad about it because it just ruins  _ now. _ My teenage years were miserable. Why ruin my twenties because I’m bitter and jaded and sorry for myself? Like, you worrying about all of this stuff. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s happening. It’s just stressing you out.”

She nodded in response.

“Okay. Well,  _ I  _ think you need to rest. Do you think you could take a personal day?” he asked.

“ _ No,  _ not with everything that’s going on. We’ve been so busy at work,” she told him. “I don’t think I have any meetings till this afternoon, though. So, I could probably take the morning off?”

“Do that,” he told her. “I may have some Benadryl. Do you think that will help you fall asleep?”

“Worth a try,” she said with a shrug. 

He shifted his legs under him so that he could get up to standing while still holding her. She clung to him with a squeal. 

“I can walk!” she said, laughing.

“Don’t want to risk messing up your piles,” he said, carefully walking over the couch pieces.  _ Also, this just makes me feel really cool.  _

He carried her to the bed and laid her down before rummaging through his end table drawer for the small bottle of pills.

He popped out one and handed it over to her, which she swallowed with the bottle of water he left beside his bed.

“I’ll be right back,” he told her. 

He logged into his work computer and shot an email to his boss that he needed to take the morning off. 

She was finishing her own email to her boss on her phone when he returned to the room. “What time do you need to wake up?” he asked.

“Um… probably by twelve thirty?” she said from under his new comforter. 

“Okay,” he said, setting the alarm on his phone. “Are you more of a storm sounds or an ocean sounds kind of person?”

“Mm… storm sounds.”

“Thank god,” he responded, putting on some background noise in case that would help her fall asleep. 

He put his phone on the end table and climbed into bed beside her. He flipped her over and pulled her tight against him so she was the little spoon. 

“You don’t have to stay with me. I’m sure you have work to do,” she told him. 

The way she melted into him suggested that she maybe didn’t care as much as she made it sound like. 

“I’m something of a rebel, Betts,” he said in her ear. “And, also, my morning meetings are all stupid anyway. They won’t miss me.”

“Didn’t you just wake up? Are you even going to be able to fall back to sleep right now?” she asked. 

“I am  _ always  _ down for more sleep,” he assured her. 

After a beat of silence, she said, “I’m so sorry about all of this, you know. You probably think I’m crazy.”

“I don’t,” he told her quickly. “I really don’t. This is the most fucking weird situation we’ve all collectively ever been in. I don’t blame you for having a hard time dealing with that.”

“I have anxiety. So, you should probably know that, going into… whatever this.. I mean, you know what I mean,” she finished, sounding flustered. 

“Does it seem like that would be a problem for me?” he asked, squeezing her tighter.

“No,” she said.

“As of three days ago I didn’t even own an oven mitt. I used to get things out of the oven with my bath towel.”

Her body shook with laughter against his.

“I’m a mess, Betty,” he told her. “I have plenty of my own issues. So, don’t think that I expect you to be perfect. I hope you’re not. Because that would make me feel wildly insecure about myself.”

She turned over to face him. Then, she kissed him. It wasn’t soft or tentative. It was a kiss that was  _ going somewhere.  _

He didn’t do this very often. Especially not sober. Especially not in the middle of the day. Especially not with a girl he actually had feelings for. 

He didn’t know what he was doing. She had  _ an ex _ . That meant she definitely knew what she was doing. She was twenty five for chrissakes. Any normal human being was confident in their kissing abilities by that point. 

He laid back and let her climb on top of him.  _ I’m yours, woman. Do with me what you will.  _

He brought his hands to her face before tangling them in her hair and deepening their kiss.  _ God _ , she knew how to kiss. 

“Wait,” he said, pulling back as he came to his senses. “You need to sleep. We’re cutting into your sleep time.”

“Well, I know what usually helps me fall asleep…” she said with a nervous bite of her bottom lip.

“Nature’s Ambien. I like where your head’s at,” he told her before flipping her back over so that he was on top. 

His fingers dipped under the elastic of her shorts, but he stopped before pulling them off. “This is what you meant, right?” he asked, suddenly second guessing himself and hoping he wasn’t making an ass of himself. 

She nodded in response. 

He was again about to pull them down before he stopped himself. “Are you  _ sure?  _ Because I feel like you’re in a emotionally fragile state and I don’t want to take advantage of that because-“

“ _ Jughead, _ ” she said, sounding exasperated. “ _ Please  _ just shut up and eat me out so I can fall asleep.”

Okay, yes, he could definitely do that. 

_...Right?  _ Admittedly, he’d only done it once before with that girl he slept with in college. Surely his enthusiasm would make up for any lack of expertise?

He pulled her shorts down as she took her top off and she was suddenly very naked. He couldn’t help but look her over for a moment. She was so fucking beautiful. 

_ It’s happening. It’s happening. It’s happening. _

He was happy. Deliriously happy. The kind of happy that made him worry that maybe he was  _ too  _ happy and that this was all too good to be true. But, he pushed that thought from his mind, because nothing was going to keep him from enjoying  _ this.  _

He climbed over her body and kissed her mouth before working his way down. He’d told her she wasn’t perfect. Turns out that was a lie. He couldn’t imagine anything more perfect.

He wished that he could spend all day worshiping every inch of her. Unfortunately, he was pressed for time and he needed to focus on getting her off so she could fall asleep.

He kissed his way down her breasts and waist and hips before stopping to check in with her  _ just one more time. _

“You sure?” he popped his head up to ask. 

She gave a needy, “ _ Yes _ ,” in response. 

“Okay, because I have to warn you that I don’t  _ really  _ know what I’m doing, and I know you have  _ an ex,” (who I’m totally and completely not jealous of or threatened by),  _ “so you may be used to a certain  _ quality  _ that I am unable to match, but I’m willing to learn if you just-” 

“Have you ever done this before?” she sat up on her elbows to ask. 

“Once back in college with that girl that I-“

“-had sex with five times. Yes, I recall,” she said with a smirk. “Well, my ex set the bar remarkably low when it comes to… just about everything sexual. So, you really don’t need to worry about  _ that.” _

He wasn’t sure if she really meant it or if she was just telling him that to make him less self-conscious. 

(He selfishly hoped it was true.)

“But, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to!” she quickly added. “I hope I’m not making you feel like you have to-“

“ _ I want to _ ,” he assured her. “I really, really want to.”

She laughed. “Okay. I’m all yours, then,” she said as she laid back down on the bed.

Okay. He could do this. 

He laid down between her legs, wrapping his arms around her thighs, before leaning down and setting to the task at hand.

“ _ Okay, _ ” she said as she jolted her hips away from him. “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but let’s maybe start a little softer.”

“Sorry,” he apologized before following her instructions and being more gentle.

“Yeah, just like that,” she said quietly. 

He reached up to hold her hand as he got into a rhythm that she seemed to enjoy, if her sounds were anything to go by. (He was fully aware they might  _ not  _ be, because she definitely seemed like the type who would fake it to be polite.)

She squeezed his hand as she started moving her hips a bit and then she got  _ really  _ wet. 

Well, you can’t fake  _ that.  _

This gave him a surge of confidence as he shifted to free his hand to start fingering her. 

“Oh,  _ god,” _ she breathed. 

“This okay?” he asked.

“ _ Don’t stop,” _ she commanded, her hand flying to his hair. 

With his mouth latched onto her clit and his fingers pumping inside of her, she came in what  _ he  _ felt was a remarkably short amount of time. The delicious sounds she made forever burned into his memory. 

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one who heard her. There was a bang and a whoop from the other side of the wall he shared with his neighbor, a guy named Reggie who was pushing thirty but still partied like a college kid.

He looked at her in shock as he wiped his face with his shirt. He thought she’d be embarrassed, but she started laughing and brought her hands to cover her face. 

“I’m so sorry,” he quickly apologized. “These  _ fucking  _ walls are paper thin and-“

“It’s okay, it’s  _ okay,” _ she said through her laughter. “I really don’t care.”

He fell onto the bed beside her. He turned to look at her and couldn’t help but smile. She was just so fucking  _ beautiful  _ and this was definitely the most intimate experience he’d ever had with another person and he couldn’t believe it was with  _ her.  _

“Thank you,” she said, rolling on top of him to bury her face in his neck. He pulled the blanket over her.

“No, thank  _ you,”  _ he responded in what he figured was the most cheesy way imaginable. “That was amazing, Betty.”

She chuckled against him. “How can you say that? You were the one doing all the work.”

He ran his fingers through her hair. “I really,  _ really _ enjoyed doing that,” he admitted. “And, I’d sure love to do it again some time.”

“Juggie, you can do that whenever you like,” she told him.

“Promise?” he asked.

“I do,” she said. “That was really good. Like  _ really, really  _ good. With some practice, I can’t even imagine…”

“Oh stop,” he said, embarrassed by her flattery. “It’s like pizza.”

“It’s like  _ what? _ ” she asked, tilting her head to look up at him. 

“It’s like pizza,” he repeated. “Even bad pizza is still  _ pizza. _ ”

She laughed. “Well, that wasn’t bad pizza! That was the  _ Lucali _ of pizza,” she said, referencing a popular pizza place in Brooklyn.

“ _ Please _ , it was  _ Sbarro  _ at best,” he responded, sending her into another fit of giggles.

It didn’t take her long to fall asleep on top of him, but he knew there was no way he’d be able to. 

Was it weird that in this time of international panic and chaos, he was having the single most enjoyable experience of his life?

He’d never felt so much for another person. His initial impression of Betty was that she was nice and smart and pretty. But, it turned out she was so much  _ more  _ than that. 

He’d always been operating under the impression that any attraction girls may have felt towards him would be immediately decimated upon actually getting to know him. He was a disaster. He had baggage. 

But, for some reason, Betty still seemed to like him?? And was now laying naked on top of him?

He lifted the blanket to briefly peek down at her. 

_ Wow. _

He truly couldn’t believe it. This was the sort of thing that happened to other people. To normal people from normal families with normal lives. He’d never entertained the idea that it would actually happen to  _ him.  _ He’d fully accepted his life of unromantic solitude. 

And now, here she was. With her pretty eyes and her pretty smile and her-

He peeked one more time under the blanket. 

_ This girl _ . 

One thing he knew for sure was that, for better or worse, he’d never be able to go back to the way things were before. 

  
  


++

  
  


“What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, trying to follow the instructions he found online and surely doing it wrong.

“I’m just not sure that’s the best way to-”

“Get back to your work, woman! Dinner will be ready shortly.”

She tried and failed to give him an unimpressed look. The only thing that was better than this giddy high he’d been on all afternoon was the fact that she was experiencing it as well.

He’d slipped out of bed before she woke from her nap to finish assembling the couch. He tried to find more tasks to do, a dish to wash or a spot to clean, but she had really and truly taken care of everything. 

Finally he noticed a dust bunny peeking out from under the trash can.  _ Ha! _ He swept it up feeling pretty accomplished. 

Next, he made her some lunch (a grilled cheese he managed not to fuck up too badly) and tried to figure out something he could make for dinner. 

He woke her up with some soft kisses and she smiled so beautifully and fluttered her eyes open and how was this even real life?

They spent the afternoon working with their legs bouncing against each other’s under the table. When their eyes met, they’d smile and blush like a couple of twelve year olds. 

He didn’t even hate how much he loved it.

After signing out of his work computer for the evening, he began slaving over a very simple spaghetti with meatballs that Betty probably could have assembled in twenty minutes. 

She was still working, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself from watching him and making comments. 

“I’d put some olive oil on that pasta if I were you,” she told him after he dumped it in the colander she’d purchased for him. “If not, it’s going to get all stuck together.”

“Well, the  _ blog post _ I read about making pasta said  _ not  _ to do that, because the sauce won’t stick to the pasta as well,” he told her.

“Oh, yes, by all means take  _ the blogger’s  _ advice over mine. Good call,” she said with a sassy smile.

She’d been in  _ a mood _ since she’d woken up. Luckily a much better one than the past few days.

He started pouring the olive oil over the pasta until she shrieked, “Too much!”

“Do your work!” he chastised.

He heard her close her laptop before walking up behind him. “I’m done,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his back. 

He stilled for a moment and took a deep breath. The scene at the end of The Grinch movie with Jim Carrey popped into his head where he’s laying in the snow and he says,  _ Help me, I’m feeling! _

Because, really, it was kind of unreasonable how much she was making him  _ feel. _

He turned around to face her and gave her a soft, slow kiss. 

“You okay?” he asked, bringing his hands to her shoulders. 

“How many times are you going to ask me that?” she asked with a smile.

“Uh… probably a lot of times today,” he told her. 

“Did I really freak you out?” she asked nervously. 

“No,” he said quickly. “I’m not freaked out. I just… would really like for you to talk to me. Instead of bottling everything up and then-“

“Exploding on your living room floor?” she finished for him.

“Something like that,” he said with a smile.

“I’m really okay. I feel a lot better now,” she told him. He hoped she was being honest.

“Just… let me help you, okay? Before it gets to that point again. I know we’ve only known each other a few days, but I’m…”  _ (so totally gone for you),  _ “here for you. Now and after our quarantine is over.”

“Thank you,” she breathed, leaning against his chest. “I guess part of the reason I got so freaked out is because I don’t really have anyone here in the city. If things go south, I don’t-“

“You have me,” he assured her. “If… if things get bad or you lose your job or we need to flee the city…”

She laughed against his chest. He wasn’t  _ completely  _ kidding.

“I’ll be your apocalypse partner, okay?” he told her. “I know I seem pretty helpless, but I have some  _ skills _ that I think will be useful.”

“Well,  _ I’m  _ in charge of cooking,” she said, pulling away from him to tend to his pot of marinara sauce and meatballs. 

“That’s fine with me. I’ll be your bodyguard. I can also secure us food and shelter,” he said, leaning against the counter. 

“I binged the show House back in college, so surely that translates into some real life medical knowledge?” she said as she added seasonings to the pot.

“I’ve seen the first few seasons of the Walking Dead. Probably some transferable skills and knowledge there as well?” he added. 

“We should watch apocalypse movies,” she told him. “For research.”

“For research,” he agreed.

It felt like progress. She was talking about it. She was  _ joking  _ about it.

She pulled out her phone and put on the song  _ Brandy, You’re a Fine Girl.  _ He watched her as she quietly sang and swayed her hips while finishing dinner. 

He realized that he was maybe, kind of, definitely falling in love with her.

  
  


++

  
  


“So, how long ago did you break up with your ex?” he asked. He figured it was better to ask about it than let his insecurities create some intimidating version of events in his head. 

“Um… a little over six months ago. When I got the job offer here and was accepted to grad school,” she said.

They were squeezed beside each other on his very small fire escape under a blanket, passing a bottle of wine back and forth. Reggie had dropped it off in the afternoon (while Betty was on a call in his bedroom,  _ thank god _ ). 

“Is that why you broke up?” he asked. 

“I mean, I kind of applied for the job and all  _ because  _ I knew he wouldn’t come with me. I’ve always wanted to live in the city, but I would have been fine staying in Boston if I’d had someone worth staying for. I was just really unhappy with him,” she said, taking a sip from the bottle.

“Oh,” he said. He thought he’d be pleased to hear that she disliked the guy, but the idea of her being unhappy just made him terribly sad. “How long were you together for?”

“About four years,” she said. 

“How much of that were you unhappy for?” he asked as she passed the bottle back to him.

“More than I’d like to admit to myself,” she said. “I mean, obviously it was good at the beginning or else it wouldn’t have happened in the first place. It was just… I thought he was different than how he turned out to be. By the time I realized who he  _ really _ was, I felt so invested and we were living together and I was scared of being single again. Terrible reasons to stay in a relationship, I realize.”

“So, what made you decide to end it?” he asked. 

“One day I just realized I’d rather be alone for the rest of my life than spend another second with him. Breaking up with him wasn’t very hard at all after that.”

He nodded in understanding. “How old were you when you lost your virginity?” he asked to change the subject.

She bit her bottom lip. “Uh… eighteen? It was my freshman year of college.”

“Who was the lucky guy?” he asked, taking a sip of the wine.

“It was this guy I was kind of seeing. It was never, like,  _ really  _ serious. I’d never had a boyfriend before and I just wanted the experience more than anything. So, we dated for a few months and then broke up when we went home for the summer.”

He nodded. “That kind of sounds like the girl I saw in college. Definitely more curiosity than actual… attraction or  _ feelings _ .”

“Have you…  _ ever  _ had feelings for someone?” she asked gently.

_ Not until you.  _

He couldn’t say that. He  _ couldn’t  _ say that. It was the cheesiest thing he could possibly say. It would  _ definitely  _ freak her out. Who says shit like that to someone they’ve only known for a few days?

“Sorry, you don’t have to answer that,” she said quickly, clearly reading into his silence. “I don’t mean to be nosy, it’s none of my business.”

“I’m twenty seven years old and I’ve never been in a relationship,” he said. “I realize that raises some questions.”

“No! It’s not weird or anything to be ashamed of,” she said emphatically as she put her hand on his arm. “I just, I guess I… I wanted to make sure that you think that maybe you  _ could… _ I don’t know, I want to make sure we’re on the same page in terms of what this is?”

Her nervousness was radiating off her and she couldn’t even look at him as she continued to speak.

“Because, I guess if we  _ weren’t  _ in quarantine it would be easier to pick up on the cues, like, if we’re just  _ hooking up  _ or if we actually go on  _ dates _ , but since we’re cohabitating it’s less clear what… what your intentions are, I guess. And I just don’t want to get my hopes up about… I just want to manage my expectations before I-”

“Betty?” he interrupted, looking at her intently. 

“What?” she asked, finally turning to him.

“I really like you.” As much as it scared the shit out of him, he just  _ had  _ to tell her. With all of the stuff she was dealing with and going through, he didn’t want her worrying about  _ him  _ of all things. 

“Like, what kind of  _ like?”  _ she asked, really putting him on the spot. 

“Are you really going to make me say that I  _ like you  _ like you?” he asked, making her laugh. “Because I do. Betty Cooper, I  _ like you _ like you.”

“Even after this morning?” she asked. 

“Why would that change anything?” he responded. 

“I don’t know,” she said, taking a swig of the wine. “My mom and my ex, neither of them really liked… seeing the manifestations of my anxiety. Like, in theory they were fine with it. But, in a  _ go to therapy and deal with it privately  _ kind of way. Do you know what I mean?”

“Please don’t ever feel like you need to hide it from me,” he told her. “I want to know you.  _ All  _ of you. And there is nothing that I will ever judge you for. Okay?”

He lifted her hand to her face to turn it towards him. “Okay,” she responded.

He leaned in to kiss her soft and slow.

“I  _ like you _ like you too,” she said as they pulled away. 

“Yeah?” he asked, still genuinely surprised even after everything.

“Yeah,” she said, nodding. 

  
  


++

  
  
  


“Need help falling asleep?” he asked when she joined him in the bedroom after brushing her teeth. 

Okay, maybe he wasn’t asking for  _ completely  _ selfless reasons, but he really did want her to get more sleep. He’d been googling a bit about anxiety in the afternoon and there was definitely a connection between sleep and mental health. 

“I feel like I should be returning the favor from earlier,” she said, sliding into bed next to him.

“If anything,  _ I _ should be returning the favor for all the stuff you’ve been doing around here,” he said, leaning over to kiss her before she could argue. 

This was all much easier now that he was a little wine drunk.

“I can think of something that we may  _ both  _ enjoy,” she said between kisses.

“Oh, yeah?” he asked.

“Do you want to try having sex again?” she asked quietly. 

“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “Yes, I would very much like that.”

They resumed kissing for a minute before she pulled away again.

“Okay, it’s just that the other day you said something about it not being very good the first time? And, I don’t know if-“

“ _ Betty,” _ he stopped her. “First of all, I’m an idiot. Second of all, I truly don’t remember much of anything from our first night together. Trust me, I’ve tried to. I was just making a joke that it was probably bad because  _ I’m  _ probably bad, because I don’t really know what I’m doing. Self-deprecation is kind of my  _ thing. _ ”

“ _ You weren’t bad _ ,” she told him, looking very serious about it. “I definitely remember more than you do. I promise you it was good. Do you think I would have bought you a couch and scrubbed your toilet if it had been bad?”

He had to laugh at that. “I didn’t realize you had ulterior motives. You could have saved yourself a lot of money by just  _ making a move _ , you know. You didn’t need to  _ buy me furniture _ to get me to sleep with you again.”

“No! It’s not like  _ that, _ ” she said, bringing a hand to her face. “I’m just saying I wouldn’t have been quite as…  _ invested  _ in your well being if I hadn’t been… if you weren’t so…”

“If I wasn’t so  _ what? _ ” he asked, positively delighted by the turn of the conversation.

“Oh, shut up and fuck me,” she said, pulling him down into a kiss. 

Couldn’t argue with  _ that.  _

He kissed her slowly, since they weren’t so pressed for time. Her lips were soft and she tasted minty from her toothpaste. Her hands slipped under his shirt as her tongue swept across his bottom lip.

They kissed until his lips were swollen and her body was writhing beneath him and he forgot to be self conscious about whether or not he was doing it right. 

At some point it seemed that Betty wanted to move things along, because she pulled his shirt over his head before rolling him over. Once she was on top, she pulled off her own shirt as well. 

“You are so beautiful,” he told her, realizing that he’d probably thought it a hundred times but hadn’t said it out loud.

She leaned over to kiss him with a smile before drifting to his ear and down his neck. 

“Give me a hickey,” he told her.

“Why?” she asked.

“I’ve never had one before. It’ll make me feel cool,” he said, making her laugh into his neck.

“Oh, I’ll make you feel  _ so  _ cool,” she said before latching onto the skin below his ear.

She left marks on his neck and collarbones and chest all the way down to his hips. 

“May I?” she asked with her fingers under the waistband of his boxers.

“I’m all yours,” he told her.  _ In every single way imaginable. _

She pulled his boxers off and looked at him with a mischievous smile before taking him into her mouth. 

_ “Shit.”  _ He closed his eyes and threw his head back into the pillow, almost overwhelmed by it all. 

Whatever magic she was doing with her tongue was absolutely unreal. He was torn between wanting to watch her and being completely immobilized with bliss. 

How was this even real life?

At some point he realized he had to stop her if they were going to have sex.

“Betty _ ,” _ he said hoarsely.

“What?” she asked, lifting her head to look at him. “Is this okay?”

“ _ Yeah, _ ” he said with a nod. “A little too  _ okay  _ if you don’t want me to finish before we…”

_ “Oh,” _ she said with a smile before removing her shorts and climbing back up his body.

“Do you want me to…?” he asked, glancing down at her. Clearly he was going to need to work on his dirty talk. 

“I mean I’m…  _ pretty  _ ready,” she said, grinding against him so he could feel how wet she was. It was wild that  _ she  _ was that turned on by  _ him.  _

“ _ Shit,” _ he said eloquently. She felt so good and he was filled with a primal urge to rock up into her. 

“You ready?” she asked quietly. 

He nodded enthusiastically. “ _ Yeah.” Yep. Yes. Definitely. For sure.  _

She gave him a hot, open mouthed kiss before sinking down on him. 

“ _ Oh, god,”  _ he groaned. 

“ _ I know,”  _ she breathed in agreement. 

She sat up a bit and started slowly riding him. He brought his mouth to her breasts, which elicited some whiny moans that were going to make it really hard for him to last much longer. 

“Betty, I’m close,” he warned her. “I’m sorry I just-“

“It’s okay,” she told him, leaning forward so their bodies were pressed together. 

He held her hips still so that he could set a faster pace. 

“Oh, that feels  _ so good _ ,” she said in his ear. 

“ _ You  _ feel so good,” he replied. 

_ Too good.  _ He wished desperately that he could hold off for just a few more minutes.

“It’s okay,” she said like a mind reader. “You can come.”

Something about her  _ saying it _ destroyed his last ounce of willpower. He came. He came and he probably made an embarrassing sound and it felt  _ so good  _ he didn’t even care.

After catching his breath, he quickly flipped them over and shifted down to finish her with his mouth. Repeating his earlier move (which she seemed to enjoy?) he sucked her clit while he fingered her and she quickly came undone. 

Getting her off was probably his new favorite activity.

He grabbed his discarded shirt to clean off his hand before collapsing back onto the bed. She rolled over to lay half on top of him with her head on his chest. 

“I told you it was good,” she said, still trying to catch her breath. 

“You weren’t kidding,” he responded, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. “I think it was mostly you, though.”

“Mm… I have to disagree,” she said kindly.

They laid in silence as their breathing slowed and he ran his fingers through her hair.

“You know, after the first time you asked me to marry you,” she told him.

“Oh my  _ god,” _ he said, bringing a hand to his face in horror. Who was this drunk version of himself? Why was he the cringiest human being?

She giggled and said, “I told you you’d have to give me a few years to think about it.”

… Well,  _ that was  _ actually kind of a promising response.

“Did I make any other drunken propositions I should know about?” he asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

“Um… no other  _ propositions.  _ You were very complimentary, though. I think you told me how much you liked my boobs about a dozen times.”

He laughed and shook his head. “I mean, they’re  _ really  _ great.”

“Yeah, no, I got that,” she said. “You made that really clear.” 

“Anything else?” he asked.

After a moment of silence, she said quietly, “You told me I’m the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.”

He used a finger to tilt her head up to look at him. “You really are.”

  
  


++

  
  


The next day, Jughead sat her down to make a chore chart. They divided up responsibilities and she was  _ strictly forbidden  _ from doing his assigned tasks. They had awkward shower sex in the morning that included a lot of giggling and then much better sex on their lunch break. They did it once more before bed for good measure.

On day six, Betty read an article that the virus may be around for much longer than anticipated and that people may be quarantined for months. Jughead talked to her about the things she was most worried about and assured her that they’d make the best of whatever happened. They spent the evening watching old episodes of  _ Phineas and Ferb _ from a blanket fort they made in the living room.

On day seven, they paid a visit to his neighbor Pop Tate with some banana muffins he’d helped Betty make. They showed him how to use Skype on his computer to talk to his grandson. Because it was the weekend, they were able to spend the afternoon trying a bunch of different sex positions. He was finally able to make Betty come  _ during  _ sex, which she claimed was the first time she’d ever done so.  _ Not to brag or anything.  _

Day eight was the second day of  _ Sex Fest 2020 _ , as Betty started calling it. Jellybean FaceTimed him in the afternoon and they tried their hardest not to be too obvious about the state of their relationship. She wasn’t fooled and he was in such a good mood, her teasing didn’t even bother him. That night, he asked Betty if he could refer to her as his girlfriend and she said yes.

Day nine was a drag because they both had to work. Betty seemed stressed out, so they took a bath in his tiny tub together before he gave her a nice long massage. They received several more packages of homegoods that Betty’d ordered her first few days there. He found her on Venmo and sent her money whether she liked it or not. 

On day ten, Betty received a Edible Arrangement of chocolate covered fruit from Veronica with a card expressing her deepest condolences for her current situation. She called her to thank her and assure her it wasn’t that bad. She also figured out they were sleeping together. They incorporated the fruit in their sexcapades that evening. 

Betty had a phone appointment with her therapist on day eleven, which Jughead was very happy about. She seemed a  _ lot  _ better, but she was still having a hard time coping with everything going on. That night on the fire escape he told her that he was falling in love with her and she said she was too. 

Day twelve was hard because he could feel the end drawing near. He did not know how he was going to survive in isolation without her. How did the whole  _ social distancing  _ thing work? Was she allowed to come visit? He supposed the answer was technically no. She seemed to be thinking along the same lines and there were just weird, sad vibes that day. 

On day thirteen, she got a phone call from her roommate. 

  
  


++

  
  


“Hey, Val! How’s it going?” she said when she answered her phone. They were sitting on his couch during their lunch break.

“What?” Betty asked, sounding concerned. “ _ What?” _ she repeated in surprise a moment later. “Oh, Val, I’m so sorry!... No, no I completely understand. It’s not your fault, obviously!... No, don’t worry about it, I’ll call Veronica. I’m sure she has room for me… No,  _ seriously _ , it is not a problem. I just hope he gets better and that you’re okay! Please keep me posted… Alright, you take care of yourself… Bye, Val.”

She hung up the phone and he was deeply curious as to what was going on. “What was that?” he asked.

“Val’s boyfriend tested positive for COVID. He’d been staying at our apartment while I was gone, so they’re both quarantined in there. I can’t go back.” She sounded shocked and was staring at the wall in front of her.

“I’m so sorry, Betty. Are you okay?” he asked. 

“Yeah, no… let me just call Veronica to see if I can crash at her place. I’m sure you’re ready to have your space back,” she said going back to her phone.

“Or you could stay?” he proposed nervously.

She looked over at him with a hopeful look on her face. 

“Stay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do I write next?? Another quarantine fic? OMG they were zoommates? The next chapter of This Bed Could Use a Secret??? I guess we’ll see what inspiration hits this afternoon.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumble with me @bugheadsextape


End file.
